A Theos/ComRes poll published last week showed that those who have no religion (a very large minority) would vote in almost exactly the same way as those who claim to be Christians. The complicating factor is that something under a half of those defining themselves as Christians said that religion was "of little importance" to them. This analysis of the poll shows that, in fact, religious people have voted and intend to vote in almost exactly the same way as the population at large.

Other polls have shown that ordinary Catholics are completely out of sympathy with the teachings of the Catholic church on issues such as contraception, euthanasia, homosexuality and abortion. Why, then, would they want such issues on the agenda of a political party?

Last month the British Social Attitudes Survey found that when asked about religious leaders trying to influence how people vote in an election, 75% said that they shouldn't, while 67% think religious leaders should stay out of government decision-making. When asked the question "If many of our elected officials were deeply religious, do you think that the laws and policy decisions they make would probably be better or probably be worse?", nearly half of respondents thought they would be worse, whereas only 26% thought they would be better.

Murphy's personal religious enthusiasm (he is a devout Catholic) may be blinding him to the facts, one of which is that clerics can no longer dictate the way their congregations vote. People are too independent-minded now to be herded into the voting booth by religious considerations alone.

The society that we live in today is very different to the one that existed 50 years ago, and we want our politicians to reflect that change. The Labour party should rein in Murphy and his ilk before he does it permanent damage.